PolitiFact NC’s 10 most popular fact checks from 2016

In this Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016, file photo, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speak during the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis. John LocherAP

In this Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016, file photo, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speak during the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis. John LocherAP

North Carolina had an action-packed political year in 2016, and that meant plenty of claims for PolitiFact North Carolina to check.

The Tar Heel State was one of the most hotly contested in the presidential election, and it had some of the country’s most high-profile races for governor and U.S. Senate.

The state legislature also kept North Carolina in the news, passing the “bathroom bill” known as House Bill 2, and losing in court over what judges deemed discriminatory voting laws and gerrymandered congressional districts.

Here are the 10 PolitiFact NC articles from this past year that people clicked on the most.

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Dan Forest, the North Carolina Republican lieutenant governor who has already declared he’ll be running for governor in 2020, was one of the most vocal supporters of HB2. In this case, he claimed the law would have prevented the city of Charlotte from opening up “all bathrooms to all sexes at all times.”

PolitiFact NC rated that claim False.

Charlotte did pass an LGBT-friendly ordinance that would have opened up restrooms in public accommodations to transgender people, but it would not have been nearly as sweeping as Forest said.

No. 9: “North Carolina has had the country’s fastest-growing economy since 2013”

Republican Gov. Pat McCrory claimed that since he came into office, North Carolina had the country’s fastest-growing economy and one of the fastest-growing populations.

PolitiFact NC rated that claim True.

North Carolina’s economy still isn’t great in all measures – it ranked 39th in per-capita income at the time of our fact check, for instance – but McCrory was right that from 2013 to 2015, no state’s economic output grew by more than North Carolina’s did.

No. 8: “Gov. Pat McCrory: No Title IX threat to billions in federal funding after controversial new LGBT law”

One of the biggest questions after North Carolina passed HB2 – and the federal government subsequently sued the state – was whether the state could lose billions of dollars of education funding if it lost the lawsuit. McCrory said there was no chance, due to a recent ruling from a federal judge in Virginia.

PolitiFact NC rated that claim Half True.

McCrory was right about the judge’s ruling in that case. But he failed to note there were serious questions about the judge’s conduct and that the case was under appeal. Furthermore, several states have caved in to the Obama administration on transgender rights issues, out of fear of losing federal funding.

Supporters of North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” said HB2 was necessary to protect women and children from male sexual predators who would pretend to be transgender women to gain access to female bathrooms.

But Chris Sgro, director of a large pro-LGBT group in North Carolina, said those concerns weren’t based in reality. “There have not been any public safety issues” in cities that allow transgender people to use the bathroom of the gender they identify as, he said.

PolitiFact NC rated that claim Mostly True.

There was one case in Canada of a man who pretended to be a transgender woman in order to gain access to two shelters where he later sexually assaulted several woman. But that’s the only case we could find in Canada, and there have been no proven cases in the U.S. despite transgender-friendly rules in dozens of cities, counties and school systems.

No. 6: “NRA ad falsely says Clinton ‘doesn’t believe in your right to keep a gun at home for self-defense’”

The National Rifle Association ran an attack ad against Hilary Clinton in several key swing states including North Carolina. It said Clinton “doesn’t believe in your right to keep a gun at home for self-defense.”

PolitiFact NC rated that claim False.

The NRA cited a candid recording of Clinton criticizing a major Second Amendment court ruling. In the tape, Clinton says she’s concerned the ruling could loosen restrictions on machine guns and open-carry laws.

Neither of those has anything to do with keeping guns at home for self-defense. Furthermore, Clinton’s concerns were identical to concerns raised by the George W. Bush administration during the same case Clinton was talking about, District of Columbia v. Heller. In an ironic twist, Bush’s arguments were made by a government lawyer who later went on to represent the NRA – and we found a copy of his argument on the NRA’s website.

No. 5: “Pat McCrory is wrong when he says North Carolina’s new LGBT law doesn’t take away existing rights”

In the first days after HB2 passed and was signed into law by McCrory, the governor held press conferences and sent out news releases to defend the law.

But not everything he said was accurate, including his claim that “we have not taken away any rights that have currently existed in any city in North Carolina.”

PolitiFact NC rated that claim False.

House Bill 2 did take away rights of cities in North Carolina. It also took away the right of all North Carolinians to file discrimination lawsuits in state court, although McCrory used an executive order to remove that part of the law several months after we published this fact check.

No. 3: “Donald Trump set the record for the most GOP primary votes ever. But that’s not his only record”

After winning the Republican presidential primary, Donald Trump claimed he set a record for most votes ever in a GOP primary.

PolitiFact NC rated that claim Mostly True.

Trump did set the record, but he also set another record he didn’t mention: Most votes against a candidate in the history of Republican primaries. In fact, despite his win, the majority of voters in the Republican primary voted for someone other than Trump – which had only ever happened a few times in U.S. history. Trump would go on to repeat this feat in the general election, yet again winning despite not receiving the majority of the votes.

After a deluge of musical acts announced boycotts of North Carolina in order to protest HB2, McCrory lashed out at one of the most famous ones. In a radio interview, he suggested Bruce Springsteen’s cancellation was really a convenient excuse to cover up poor ticket sales.

Springsteen “only had 8,000 tickets sold” for a Greensboro show and canceled after “they didn’t get the ticket sales they wanted,” McCrory said.

PolitiFact NC rated that claim Pants on Fire.

When Springsteen canceled several days before the show, he had sold twice as many tickets as McCrory claimed, and the show was already nearly sold out. Our fact check prompted McCrory to publicly apologize.

Read the full fact check (and admire our restraint in not making too many Springsteen puns) here.

No. 1: “Viral image debunked: KKK was not marching in North Carolina after Trump victory”

Hours after Trump won the presidential election, a young woman from North Carolina tweeted a photo of what she said were KKK members marching in Alamance County to celebrate his victory.

PolitiFact NC rated that claim False.

The people in the photo were Trump supporters waving flags and signs. A local newspaper reporter who also was at the scene confirmed to us that they were all in regular clothing and there were no Confederate flags or other regalia associated with the KKK or other racist groups.

Tens of thousands of people had shared the photo, but after it had been debunked – by us and others – the woman deleted it and the hysteria died down.

A few days later the KKK did announce a victory parade in North Carolina – which it later held, in the face of sizable protests – but that doesn’t change the fact that the original claim was completely made up.